Filch's Secret
by Weaxzezz
Summary: A fairy-tale sort of story with a young Argus Filch in it. Thanks to E. C. K. for helping with the storyline. First chapter is a short introdoction thing. Rated for language, just to be on the safe side.
1. Introduction

Argus Filch was a relatively normal man. He wasn't the sort of man that would attract your attention; he was nothing more than your average grumpy bus-driver. He sat there in his seat every day, driving the busses of London and checking so that everyone paid before getting on the bus. He was used to seeing a lot of people on the bus; youths with their crazy outfits, kids who whined and cried, drunkards who hardly got to their seats before falling over and your average odd fellow who never seemed to get the hang of society. He was used to dealing with strange situations, although his normal reaction was to yell and wave his arms at whoever caused the inconvenience.

He had worked as a bus driver for a little over four years. He was to drive a long route that day, and he wasn't happy about it. On top of the bad route, he was working very unpleasant hours; 20.00 to 01.3o. As a result, he was in one of his most grumpy moods, and prepared to attack any troublemakers with a straight "get off my bus" before any trouble would be made.

He sat in his seat, made himself comfortable and opened the bus doors. As he took care of each of the new passengers he laid his thoughts to his usual habit of locating the particular reason for him to recent every one of them. "Too smelly", "too fat", "no sense of decency, seriously, it's December" and similar things flowed through his mind in a constant stream for the first two hours of driving. Then, as he stopped in the outskirts of town, his stream was flooded by a woman entering the bus.

"Holy shit, what the hell is this thing?! Who the fuck even thought of making boots like that, and who the hell would wear them? And what is that, a face? …Seriously need to get a grip; lime green is not a hair colour! And where the hell did she get her clothes, I should really just throw this o…"

"Uh, I'm sorry, but could you help me a bit, I don't really know how this works…?" The woman looked at Filch with an excusing expression, and held out a hand with coins. At first Filch just looked at the woman in a sort of irritated and confused way, then he picked up the right coins from her hand. He laughed silently and shook his head as the woman sat down. He drove on.

He looked at her reflection many times before she got of. When he got home he was still seeing her face, and when he closed his eyes to sleep her face was glued on the inside of his eyelids.


	2. Chapter I

"Argus, where did you put the teapot?!" It was early morning in a small apartment somewhere in the outskirts of London. A woman was throwing around all kinds of things, everything from remote controls to books titled "The 134 Useful Parts of a Dragon: Only Useful if You Can Get Them", in her frantic search for her teapot. "It's in the dishwasher!" came a croaky voice from a room further back. "What that's good for I'll never know," the woman muttered to herself as she slammed shut the dishwasher. She pulled out a wand from somewhere inside her burgundy robes, pointed it at the teapot and said "scourgify" in a ringing clear voice.

As she sat down at the kitchen table and pushed away some of the clutter from the vicinity of her seat a small brownish owl tapped at the window, which she opened and closed by magic after the owl had flown in. The owl landed next to her and she untied a letter from its leg at the same time as she poured tea. The morning sun shone in through the large glass doors which led to the balcony and lit up the tiny kitchen. The rays of light reflected upon the orange and red decorating and the random things which lay scattered all over the apartment cast long shadows.

The woman read the letter and sighed heavily. She rose from her seat and zigzagged through the apartment into the bedroom. The bedroom, apart from being much more beige than the rest of the apartment, was noticeably emptier of things; in fact the only things present was a bed, some clothes and a small book randomly thrown on the floor. The woman turned swiftly out of the room and into a small bathroom, which was filled to the brim with newspapers, magazines and enormous amounts of shampoo bottles. Argus sat on the toilet, with his head leaning against the wall behind him, sleeping. The woman rolled her eyes and poked him in the chest with her wand. Argus jumped up, his unshaved face screwed up in a horrible twist of muscles, waving his arms at the woman. "Put it away, Minnie! I don't want that thing pointed at me!" "Oh, shut up, Argus! What I wanted to say is that I'll be working late today, just got a letter from my boss. I hope you'll manage?" Argus sighed and pushed his way out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. "Sure," he said as he lay down on the bed.

Minnie went back into the kitchen to finish her breakfast, and when she left a few minutes later Argus had fallen asleep again.

Argus Filch and Amelia Norris, also known as Minnie, had known each other for three years now, and had lived together for almost two. Argus had not found out about Minnie's magical powers until they had lived together for more than a year, but had always thought there was something odd about her. He was indeed shocked when he found out and still had not let it sink in properly. He wasn't really the man who enjoyed strange things, actually quite the opposite. He frowned upon colour, diversity and things most would consider 'fun'. He dressed everyday in his boring uniform, drank his boring coffee, drove his boring busses and returned home to his boring apartment. Well, more his boring bedroom, now that Minnie had moved in and spread her things everywhere. He could still remember when he had come home and found the kitchen and living room painted in orange and red. It had not been a pretty sight.

Minnie, on the other hand, took every opportunity to express her malcontent with the dreadful grey and beige colours which dressed every surface in the bathroom and bedroom. And even worse, she thought, was the fact that Argus threw out all the things she left in the bedroom, unless they were neatly packed in the closet, and Minnie was not very good at keeping things organised. She worked very uneven hours, often at night, but this didn't bother her, or Argus. Before she had told Argus that she was a witch she had told him she was a nurse, which fit well with her working hours. In truth, she worked with all departments of the Ministry of Magic, and some private companies as well, to help them to solve any possible troubles while interacting with muggles. While a lot of her work consisted of making phone calls and such on behalf of her employers, she also took care of more unpleasant situations, involving curses placed on muggles and situations were muggle law and wizarding law clashed or made troubles. Minnie, being pureblood, had no private experience with muggles prior to her encounter with Argus, and thus she was not completely accustomed to the muggle way of living.

When Argus rose from his bed the hands on the clock were ticking closer and closer to pm time, and he grumpily put on his uniform. He didn't bother showering or shaving; personal hygiene wasn't really his thing, and did anyone really care what their bus driver looked, or smelled, like? Well, they probably did, but Argus didn't.

As Argus sat down on the driver's seat in the bus he froze for a second. He had just remembered that there was no way that Minnie would be able to work late tonight. They were going to dinner at her parents, right after he finished work. He would have to get a hold of Minnie as soon as possible, and there wasn't really much of a choice for him. He had a five minute break in two hours; he would have to try to reach her then. Good thing that she had a phone he thought, he would never be able to go back to work with a straight face if he would have had to send her an owl from their lunchroom. He had only tried to send an owl once, gotten bitten and with a very foul language exclaimed he would never do it again. As he opened the bus doors and let people enter he continued to think about the evening.

It was the first time he was going to meet Minnie's parents; they were not hostile towards muggles, but since they were pureblood having one in their home would be an _unusual_ experience. Minnie had met Argus' mother on one occasion. It had been rather hasty, but Argus' had been very surprised at his mothers good reaction to meeting Minnie at the door a Sunday morning instead of the grey sunken face of her son. She had simply smiled, handed Argus' birthday gift to Minnie and left, waving cheerfully to her flabbergasted son. Argus knew his mother had never been very happy about the way he turned out, but she was far too normal, he thought, to be that happy about Minnie. She must have been in a state of shock. Argus' father was not alive.

The hours passed slowly for Argus as he drove the bus, and he was far too distraught to even play his usual little game of "hate the passengers". When his five minute break finally came he ran up to the lunchroom, picked up the phone and dialled the number which was written with a quill on a small piece of parchment that he kept in his uniform pocket. He waited a few seconds and then the answer came. "Doctor Mowinkels Communication Service, how can I help you?" came a familiar ringing voice through the phone. "Uh, Minnie?" "Argus?" "Yeah…" "Well, what do you want?" The conversation was rather odd, both seemed uncomfortable with the situation. "Eh, you know you said you were going to work late tonight?" came Argus voice, trembling slightly. "Yes, why?" Minnie was trying to speed things up, she was obviously rather busy. "Uh, we were going to have dinner at your parents tonight." Argus didn't need to wait long for Minnie's reaction. "Fuck, shit, fuck! Ah, I don't know what to do Argus, I really was supposed to work! Aah! Wait…" Minnies voice faded a bit but Argus could still hear her words. "Xantippa, could you cover for me tonight? I know I was supposed to work 'till midnight, but Argus just called and reminded me; we're having dinner at my parents tonight, and it's really important, and well, you've met my parents so please, please, _please_ could you cover for me tonight? Please?" There was a silent pause and then Argus heard an even fainter voice utter the words "Fine, but you owe me big-time." Argus heard a long line of 'thank you' over and over and then Minnie's voice was audible again. "Yeah, so I'll see you tonight then Argus, bye," and the phone was hung up. Argus paused for a second and then ran back down to his bus.

When Argus entered the door to his apartment later that night Minnie was already there, rummaging around. "Argus, finally! You've got less than forty-five minutes to get ready, come on, hurry! I've put out the only decent clothes I could find for you, and don't you dare change!" Argus sighed as heavily as he could and made his way, slowly, to the bathroom. As he showered and shaved he could hear Minnie running around, but since she had looked more or less ready when he got home he couldn't really think of what she was doing. When he got out of the bathroom and into the bedroom to put on his clothes he grimaced at the brownish suit Minnie had put out; it was very much like his favourable grey suit, and he assumed Minnie had changed the colour by magic. He didn't dare argue anyway, and put it on. When he got out into the living room Minnie was waiting for him. "And how do we get there in five minutes?" said Argus as he looked at his watch; almost eight. "Magic, silly," said Minnie, and grabbed his arm as they walked out from the apartment. Argus eyes were huge, and he smiled warily as he shook his head at Minnie in the dark stairway. "Oh, come on, it's not that bad." Minnie took an extremely strong hold of Argus' arm and the next thing he knew he was experiencing the most sickening feeling he had ever felt. It passed quickly, but when it did he was looking at Minnie with an expression of complete shock, and even somewhat hurt.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said and patted him lightly on his head, I should have warned you. Now, let's wipe that frown of your face and go meet my parents." Argus took a deep breath and turned towards the house that Minnie had been looking at. It was a rather normal looking villa actually, well, except for the fact that there seemed to be a Jack Russell Terrier with two tails outside of it. Argus ignored the dog and walked up to the door with Minnie.

* * *

A/N: Just to clarify, since Argus is supposed to be in his early twenties or something in this story I imagine it would be set sometime in the late sixties or early seventies, but I'm not really sure.

And the Jack Russel with "two tails" is actually a very well behaved crup (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, page 8,9(?) ), and they somehow managed to slip away from cutting of its tail.

And "Doctor Mowinkel" is actually taken from a song by the band Kaizers Orchestra, called Dr Mowinkel. You should really listn to that song=P


	3. Chapter II

As Minnie and Argus entered the house they were met by a small and eager to please house elf, who bowed quickly and ran up a flight of stairs to get Minnie's parents. "Wha…" started Argus, but was interrupted by the sound of high heels on wooden floor. He looked up and saw what must have been Minnie's mother, slowly walking down the flight of stairs, closely followed by a slightly shorter man, almost completely hidden by the lady's huge shadow.

"And you must be Argus!" the lady exclaimed in a loud and high pitched voice as she smiled a huge white smile and took his hand with both of her own. Argus remained startled and it took him a while to reply. After a few awkward exchanged phrases concerning the health and well-being of the party, they took refuge to the dining room, which was graciously stuffed with excuses for silence.

As the evening slowly passed, wineglass by wineglass, the hostess, who sat next to Argus, became louder and chattier, and far more open with her thoughts than at the beginning of the dinner. "You know, Argus," she said as she leaned closer to the blushing young man, "not all of our friends are very happy about this marriage. We're not the kind of people who keep things from our friends, me and Xzeno, and anyway, people would ask sooner or later. But you should know, as I said, not everyone is happy about the way things turned out with you and Minnie. So you watch out for yourself now, boy, and keep an eye on Minnie too." Argus didn't really understand what Minnie's mother was talking about, but ignored it for now, and reminded himself to ask Minnie later.

The dinner went on as expected, and when it was finally time to leave Minnie's father waved them goodbye from the doorstep as Minnie's mother had to excuse herself abruptly after one too many glasses. As the couple once again appeared in front of their apartment Argus was much too tired to even think about bringing up any sort of conversation with Minnie, who on the other hand didn't seem able to shut up. Argus simply grunted and nodded at whatever it was she was saying and drifted of to sleep, still with his socks on.

***

The next morning Argus woke with the agonising sound of crashing porcelain and loud swears penetrating the walls into the bedroom. He grunted loudly and made his way into the kitchen. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked Minnie in a croaky voice and scratched his head, as he saw her point her wand at the pile of broken plates, mend them together and float them back into the cabinet. "I'm just tired, it's nothing," said Minnie, but judging by her voice, and tensed face, it was something. Argus however didn't bother to ask; he always felt it was best to leave people with troubles alone. He sat down at the round, cluttered table and looked out through the window. He grunted again and fell asleep with his head on a pile of newspapers.

When Argus awoke again it was to the sound of a slamming door. Minnie had probably gone to work, but this was Argus day off, so he didn't really care that it was already past midday. What he did care about however was the fact that there was an owl outside the window. It wasn't an owl he recognised and it certainly wasn't Minnie's owl. Could this possibly mean? No, who would send him a letter by owl?! He waved his arms at the owl and shouted "Minnie is not here, she's just left"! He felt rather silly screaming at an owl through the window, especially since the owl didn't seem to understand at all. Argus sighed and opened the window. The owl, which was rather large, landed on the table and held out its leg. Argus looked around, as if he was afraid someone would see him, and then took the letter from the owl. The owl screeched loudly and hurriedly made its way out again. Argus simply stood there for a few seconds, looking into blank space before him, before unfolding the parchment.

_To Argus Filch,_

_How can you, a filthy London muggle, see yourself worthy of ever even looking at such a woman that is Amelia Norris? A good pureblood witch converted by your foul, perverted ways into living in such a filthy place that you call 'home'. Yes, I've seen it, and I wouldn't hesitate once to blow the place up, if I could. I don't care what other filthy muggles might be killed, but you, you will be tortured and disgraced until you beg for death._

_Rot in hell._

No sender. Argus read the letter two times, slowly, and thought about calling Minnie. He made it halfway to the phone before turning around again and walking into the bathroom. No, he wouldn't tell Minnie, at least not now. She'd only be worried, he thought, and the writer had said that he would blow the place up 'if he could'. Then he probably couldn't. No, Argus wouldn't tell Minnie at all. He flushed the letter down the toilet.


	4. Chapter III

Later the same night Minnie came home, flustered and tired after a 12 hour shift. Argus didn't much notice as he was sitting in the couch with his eyes fixed on the TV-news. It wasn't until Minnie sloped down beside him with a heavy sigh that he pulled his eyes of the television set and looked at her instead with widely opened eyes and his neck at an odd angle.

"Uh, Minnie…"

"Yes?" she answered in a tired voice.

"Are you watching TV?" Argus replied in a surprised tone.

"Yeah," she said plainly, "it seems to be an excellent way to get away from reality a bit."

"Suppose so," Argus answered with a shrug. They continued to sit together in the deep sofa for a few hours, flicking from channel to channel, silent and still, except for the occasional hug or cuddle. Around midnight, for the first time since they met, Minnie fell asleep before Argus did. Argus continued to stare at the screen for a few minutes, while his thoughts rested on the letter that he flushed down the toilet before. Maybe Minnie knew there was something going on, after all.

When they woke up the next morning the sun was shining through the windows straight down on their faces. Argus blinked and yawned as he stretched out on the couch, and Minnie sat right up and went to the kitchen to brew some tea. As Minnie was standing there Argus noticed an owl sitting on the windowpane, staring straight at him. He stared back for a few seconds, before he slowly opened his mouth and alerted Minnie to the owl's presence. Minnie also stared at it for a second or two, before she slowly opened the window and untied the letter from its leg. "It's for you," she said, with a slight tone of surprise, but still calm, like she knew that this might happen. She held out the letter behind her back, towards Argus, who silently made his way from the couch to grab it. He held it in his hand but didn't open it - he had a good idea about what he would find if he did. "You've gotten one before, haven't you?" Minnie asked, still looking out the window, staring at the place where she last saw the owl. "Yeah," came Argus' answer in a croaky voice. He wasn't really surprised that she knew, but wasn't exactly relieved by it. Minnie turned around and walked over to the couch again, taking the letter from Argus and opening it slowly. Within were the same sort of threats that had come in the last letter, but with an escalated tone. Instead of a signature, this time there were the words "We're coming."

"He's been sending them to me too," said Minnie.

"He?" said Argus, and turned to look at her.

"Yes," Minnie replied, "I know who he is. We were good friends, when I was younger. Like, when I was still in school. His father was a good friend of my father's, I think they worked together. We, we turned out a bit different. You know how it goes… Never mind." Argus took a moment to let it all in, but then sat down on the rickety coffee table opposite Minnie and looked her straight in the eyes.

"I really don't like this Minnie. Is he serious with what he writes? Does he really mean it? There must be something seriously wrong with this fella, anyways."

"I don't know about his mental health really," said Minnie with a sad smile, "but I do think he could be serious. At least with some of it. You see, I told you there was a small group of wizards and witches who have been challenging the structure of our magical society today, and, eh, caused some troubles for us at Mowinkel's. Well, they're causing a bit more trouble than just at our office. They can be quite… intense." Argus did not look happy with Minnie's explanation, not happy at all. "I think this is a bit more than _intense_. I think this is downright offending and honestly pretty scary."

"Nothing's going to happen, Argus," said Minnie after a pause. "This flat is well protected by magic…" she paused again and bit her lip before continuing "…and I wrote a letter to my parents about it. They said they were going to look into it. They know a lot about these kinds of things, it's not very uncommon for a pureblood that affiliates with muggles to get these kinds of threats." Argus was still very upset, but he trusted Minnie and her belief in her parents' abilities. He felt really lonely, but he said nothing about it. He didn't have anyone to talk to about this, like Minnie had her parents. He put all his trust in Minnie, but when he was by himself he was really alone, in a way Minnie couldn't understand. It was all new to him, muggles, purebloods and magic, and he was completely alone in it. Or so he thought.


	5. Chapter IV

Later the same day, around midnight when Argus had just crawled into bed, an owl tapped at the bedroom window. At first Argus didn't recognize the sound and ignored it, but when it didn't stop he walked out of bed and rolled up the curtain from the window. Minnie was still at work (she always worked after-hours these days) and Argus was a bit nervous about what he'd find in the letter. He was a bit surprised to find that the envelope hadn't been sealed with wax and wasn't made of parchment, but when he flipped it over he knew why. In deep red ink the name "Argie" was hastily smudged on the paper. No one else had ever called him Argie, except for, and Argus thought this over thoroughly before his conclusion, his mother. As he opened the letter he walked over to the light switch by the door and flipped it. He took out a very long letter from the envelope, almost five pages of his mother's hastily scribbled words. She addressed him as sweetie, darling, honey and love throughout the letter, to smooth over what was contained between those words.

Argus had grown up without a father, but he had never known why. He had just assumed that his father had left when he was younger and not talked to his mother about it. His mother seemed to drift away whenever Argus' father was mentioned anyway, so there had been no use asking her about it. In the letter Argus' read was the entire explanation.

Argus's father had been a wizard. He had separated with Argus's mother soon after Argus' birth, but not because of a fight or a disagreement – he had simply moved very far away, and after a few years his letters simply stopped coming. Argus' mother still wondered what had happened to him, but by the time he stopped sending letters Argus was still too young to remember his father, so she simply stopped to talk to Argus about him. Since Argus never showed any tendencies towards magic she never saw any reason to try and contact his father again, and simply let go. Argus didn't seem to mind, she wrote, but with a clear apologetic tone in her words. As Argus continued to read he felt a sort of calm in his mind, but also a deep sadness bubbling up within him. He had never really allowed himself to feel anything before, but now he couldn't keep it in. He folded the letter beneath his pillow without finishing it, and went to sleep with tears wetting his pillow, hoping that Minnie would stay another extra hour at work, so he could go to sleep in peace.

The next morning Argus woke up before Minnie, who lay passed out on the bed with her clothes still on, and he silently slipped the letter out from under his pillow and tip-toed out into the living room. He sat down on the edge of the coffee table and started reading where he stopped yesterday. There was only a page left of this heavy letter, changing the world for him. His mother had ended the story about his father and continued with the story about Argus. She wrote of her happiness as Argus had met Minnie, and her love for Minnie, who had made her son so happy. But then again the letter took a nasty turn for Argus. His mother knew that Argus and Minnie had been threatened. Apparently Minnie's parents knew more about Argus family than he had done himself, because they had sent an urgent letter to his mother as soon as they heard, knowing that she knew about magic. Argus' mother advised him to stay cautious, and to listen to Minnie and her parents, but in the end she asked him, very lightly, to consider, not living with Minnie any longer. And Argus considered it, too, briefly. They were all in danger because of his relationship with Minnie, but in the end he decided that it was worth it, knowing that if he would leave Minnie, they would all be completely miserable, anyway.

He folded up the letter again and put it inside one of his books that stood untouched on the bookshelf. He put water in the kettle and waited for Minnie to wake up.

For a few days everything seemed to get back to normal. Argus himself almost forgot about the letters he had gotten and what he had learned from his mother - but one thing stuck to him. If his father had been a wizard, then why wasn't he? If he would have been a wizard no letters would have come for him, no threats would have come to Minnie and maybe, just maybe, he would be able to find his father. Maybe. The bit of Argus that wanted to find his father was engaged in a subconsious battle with the part that wanted to forget him again, like he had when he was an infant. What if his father had stayed with them, maybe then he would have helped Argus to learn magic - maybe this was all his fathers fault? These thoughts stayed hidden deep within Argus, just like most of his thoughts did. Minnie suspected nothing, and she herself thought that now the letters and threats had stopped it was all over. Of course, it wasn't.

* * *

Argus was driving a new bus now. This bus had new seats and clean stop buttons and smelled distinctly of plastic, and he hated it. He didn't get to drive the same route anylonger either. This bus went out to the fancy suburb villas and out in a loop back into north of London, and he hated that too. He wanted to get back to the grime and the smell of the workers going back from work and the noise and the mess of their kids as they got into town at night - but he was stuck with perfect people, who he couldn't find anything wrong with, and nothing interesting with, either. His mind wandered as he drove his bus and he got sader and sader for every hour he spent in that bus. What if he could just have magicked his way out of it and let it drive on on its own?

One night Argus got back from work at around two in the morning. He wandered into the apartment without looking and sloped down on the bed, still in his uniform. The bed was surpisingly cold, and he rolled over to take advantage of Amelias warmth, but she wasn't there. He pushed his face slowly away from the pillow and called out her name in a croaky, tired voice. No answer. He got up into the hallway and looked in to the bathroom. If it was usually messy, now it was chaos. He quickly turned on the lights in the livingroom and saw that he had gotten lucky to be able to navigate into the bedroom without stepping on something sharp - the entire kitchen stood open and the porcleain and glass was strewn across the floor. His mind was racing as he thought about the thousand different things that could have happened, but then a rational peice of his head put a stop to it. "If they would have killed her", he thought, "then she would still be here. She has to be alive." He grabbed his wallet and ran out the door.

Argus wasn't used to running, but he was scared shitless and something in him told him that if he ever needed to hurry, it was now. He didn't know why, but somehow he thought that the best place to go right now was to his mum's. She lived only a few kilometers away, but it was uphill and at the moment it seemed longer than it really was. Argus felt the taste of blood in his mouth and his breath rattled against his throat as he stood outside his mother's and put a hand down on the doorbell, hearing the continuous buzz inside the door, punctuated by his heavy breathing. It was only seconds later his mother opened the door and he staggered inside, sitting down on the floor.

"What is it?" came his mother's voice, tearing through all the emotions he felt and the panic pressing against his chest as he gasped for air. "They... took... her..." he managed to breathe out. He lifted himself off the floor and stood level with his mum, but not daring to look straight at her. She seemed to think for a minute, before speaking again, quickly. "Do you know where her parents live?" she asked. "I... I'm not sure," Argus whispered in recovered breathing. "I mean I was there, but I don't know where it is. I think it was number six, but there were no other houses near it. It was nowhere." His mother pulled him by the arm in to a cramped livingroom with stale air - no one had drunk tea in there for ages. She went over to the fireplace and started to rummage around in a hidden drawer in the mantelpeice. She turned around and held out what looked like an oversized snuffbox, and opened it. "Throw some into the fire, crawl in there and speak your destination. I don't know if it will work but your father did it all the time." Startled by the way his mother had speaked to easily about his father he took a pinch of the floopowder and threw onto the dry old wood in the fireplace. He closed his eyes and put a foot into the fire, and when he felt nothing he bent his back and squatted in the fireplace. He thought for a few seconds and then said "number 6, Norris, Nowhere", hoping he would get out in the other end.


	6. Chapter V

Argus rolled onto a dusty wooden floor and braced himself with his hands. As he got up he felt the sting of a splinter in his hand but held in the swears and looked around in the dark room he stood. From a small dirty window to his right the moon shone in and cast peculiar shadows on some old wicker chairs and brooms that were haphazardly placed against the opposite wall. Only a few steps away from Argus there was a door, and he gently pushed it open. Fresh air was thrown against him as he got out of the stale cabin, and as he stepped down onto the grass and let the door go behind him it slammed shut with unnatural force. He carefully looked around him, out into an overgrown garden, and in the distance he could see the silhouette of a house against the glittering sky.

He worked his way through the bushes and wilderness of the garden, and as he got closer to the house he found it easier and easier to walk normally, and the last few metres he took off running, as he recognised the back door - it was the Norris's, and he wasn't lost. As he was about to slam his hand on the door, it swung open in front of him, and he stared straight in to the hallway. "Isn't it a bit late for an unannounced visit?" came the croaky voice of a house elf from below. Argus looked down at the creature and stuttered a bit as he made out his business with the Norris's. The house elf looked surprisingly calm and led him into the house and up the stairs - again Argus heard that unnerving sound of a door slamming just a bit too hard behind him.

The elf led him into what looked to be the library, and suddenly Argus was met by the loud barks of that annoying terrier, rushing against him with unsettling anger. Mr Norris corrected it with a hiss and it walked back to its bed, disgruntled. "I see you know about our daughter," said Mr Norris and waved away the house elf. "We got a letter earlier this evening." Argus didn't know what to say. He was met by this thick, calm atmosphere as both Mr and Mrs Norris smiled gently at him. "Oh, won't you sit down?" Mrs Norris insisted after a few seconds, holding out her hand towards an armchair opposite herself. "You look very... wait! Did you come in by the floo network?" She had eyed Argus from head to toe, looking very unhappy with having such a sooty and sweaty guest in her armchair. "Uh," came Argus' voice quietly, "I got in through the fireplace... in the garden." Mr Norris let out a hearty laugh as Mrs Norris looked displeasedly at him. "We didn't know that fireplace was still connected to the network!" shouted Mr Norris. "I hope it wasn't too hard crawling through the bushes?" Mrs Norris couldn't help but giggle a bit at this too. Argus was very stressed by this seemingly humorous situation and at last he couldn't stand it anymore and loudly asked the Norris's what in the world they were going to do about their daughter being held captive. The room fell silent and Mr Norris looked wearily onto the floor as his wife silently took to words. "We sent a note to the auror's office, they're the ones who usually handle this sort of thing, but it seems they might all have gone home this late. They really should have answered by now."

Argus couldn't sit quietly for much longer, and asked to be excused. He didn't know anything about how things like this were handled in the wizarding world. He understood that the aurors were some sort of policemen, but why they didn't come to their aid he couldn't fathom. As he sat down on the foot of the stairs at the Norris's he let out a sigh. It was unendingly frustrating for him to sit idly by and wait, after having gone to so much trouble to get to the Norris's. He had imagined Minnie's parents rushing bravely to her aid as soon as they got the word, flying off into the night sky to rescue their daughter, but now he realised how foolish he had been to have such hopes.

The hours passed slowly and Argus felt awkward as he waited in the big house, trying to avoid the Norris's and feeling constantly watched among all the paintings (did they move? maybe he was just tired...) and he could have sworn that house elf was following him as he paced the hallways up and down. As he was hiding in the bathroom there was a soft knock on the door. "Yes?" Argus said and looked up from the sink, into his own eyes in the mirror. "It's been five hours now," said Mrs Norris quietly on the other side of the door, "I don't think the aurors are coming." Argus opened the door and stepped out and Mrs Norris continued. "We think we're going to have to take things into our own hands," she said, on the verge of tears. "Neither I nor my husband are very apt fighters though. I know you can't help much but... maybe you could come along? We don't want you to take any unnecessary risks, we don't expect you to fight... It's just better the more we are." Argus stood silently and stared at the wall right next to Mrs Norris head. "Sure," he said, "I'll do whatever I can." Truthfully though, he wasn't sure what it was he could do.

He let go of Mrs Norris' arm and struggled to keep his balance as they arrived suddenly at the door of a small shack. The house seemed to be abandoned, but a light flickered through one of the dirty windows, and muffled sounds came from the inside. Mr Norris stepped up to the door and knocked, and the sounds stopped. The door creaked and opened slowly to reveal the surprised face of a middle aged man. The man held his wand pointed at them but Mrs Norris was ready with hers and suddenly the man was lying on the floor, unable to speak or move. Mrs and Mr Norris stepped over the man and continued in to the house. Argus took a deep breath and followed them in to the darkness.

Inside the house the air was stale and warm, and it felt like they were walking through a cloud of dust. Mrs Norris slowly pushed open the door to the dimly lit room they had seen from the outside, and once it had swung open all hell broke loose. A large ball of fire smashed against the wall behind her as she jumped into the room before her, and Mr Norris soon followed. Argus stood outside, paralysed with fear as he watched the flashes of light and heard screams and slamming noises from the room. Finally he drew some courage from deep, deep within him, and looked around the corner. He saw three young men in a corner, shouting and waving their wands about as the Norris's determinately swung their arms at the group in a single motion - one of the men sunk to the floor, unconscious. Then he noticed Minnie, bound to a chair in the middle of the room, watching the scene with big eyes, unable to help her parents. Argus ran up to her and tried to loosen the ropes but nothing helped. A flash of light swirled past his temple but he continued to tug at the ropes - but he couldn't find the knot! As he looked up for a second he saw Mrs Norris run towards him as she screamed "the fireplace, take her home through the fire..." but just as she was about to finish the sentence a flash of golden light hit her, and suddenly she was a cat, meowing towards Argus. Argus fought to keep the panic away, and just as he was about to lift Minnie by the chair she was in the ropes fell apart before him. He looked around to see if Mr Norris had helped him, but Minnie's father was completely immersed in the fight. Minnie grabbed Argus by the arm and headed towards the fireplace. Just as Argus was pulled into the green flames he shouted at Mr Norris "take the cat and go home!" and then he was again being flushed up a chimney, away from the world.


End file.
